Planet of Treachery

by E.E. 'Doc' Smith, Stephen Goldin, Stephen Goldin

Genres: Sci-fi Action & Adventure; Space Opera

Synopsis

Classic space opera adventure, Book #7 in the "Family D'Alembert" series. For centuries, the planet Gastonia has been a planet of exile, an escape-proof prison world for the worst sorts of traitors. But now, it seems, prisoners are indeed escaping, and all evidence points to the sinister, all-knowing conspiracy that continues to shadow the Throne. The D'Alemberts must infiltrate this world of traitors - and they must do it without a safety net, because if they fail they themselves will be trapped on this inhospitable world.

Release date: December 14, 2012

Publisher: Gateway

Print pages: 224

Sample

As the man left the camouflaged doorway of the elevator tube from the pirate base and headed out into the jungle, he got the distinct impression he was being watched. The prickling of the small hairs on the back of his neck, the suspicious absence of movement, the too-quiet stillness all around him – all these were danger signals to his wary mind. He’d gone through too many perilous situations before, had put his life on the line too many times, to ignore his instinctive feeling that something was not quite as it should be.

He stood stock still for a moment in a seemingly casual pose – but his hand was no more than a few centimeters from the hilt of the stun-gun tucked into his belt. Turning his head slowly he surveyed the landscape before him, alert for a myriad of possible dangers.

The pirate base was organized along very utilitarian lines. All the important areas – headquarters and strategy, supply depots, communications, living quarters for the chief pirate officials – were buried below more than a hundred meters of solid rock, secure from all but the heaviest weapons the Empire could throw at them. Closer to the surface were the barracks for the ‘enlisted men’, the pirate hordes, representing nearly a thousand worlds. At this base alone there were more than twenty-two thousand people, men and women – alumni from the toughest planetary and Imperial prisons, graduates all from the school of survival-at-any-costs. Ringing the base in a series of underground silos were the ships the pirates used for their expeditions – more than five hundred of various sizes, ranging from small, swift scouts to large cruisers brimming over with destructive capacity.

No expense had been spared to set up the base – and this was only one of several that this particular pirate knew about. He also knew that the business of looting spaceships was nowhere near lucrative enough to support an operation of this scope and magnitude. This all had to be a part of something bigger and more diabolical – but despite his best efforts he’d been unable so far to pierce that mystery.

As he stood now on the surface and looked around, there was little indication of human activity on this planet. The elevator tube from which he’d emerged was disguised to look like a wide tree set at the edge of a clearing. Around it were many other real trees – tall, with dark brown trunks and broad, serrated leaves of a strange color closer to blue than green. Strung through the tops of the trees were the red slithervines that all the pirates learned to avoid within a short while of coming to this world; the vines exuded a strong serum that could even soak through clothing, and left a person’s skin red and burning for a week or better. Local birdlife was abundant, flying between the trees in their brilliant plumage and raising their voices in raucous cries. Insects and small animals added their own buzzes, clicks and whistles to the jungle cacophony, all contributing to a picture of serene normality within this untamed environment.

Nothing moved that could not be expected to; there were no sounds that had not been there on a dozen previous occasions. There was nothing that could be a cause for alarm or suspicion. But nevertheless, something felt wrong.

The man stood staring into the jungle for more than a minute before finally moving on. He was a firm believer in the power of protective paranoia; just because he couldn’t see something didn’t mean it wasn’t there. He had been living with the constant threat of discovery and death for two years now, and his intuition had been honed to a fine edge. He moved slowly, checking each step and looking constantly around, his ears alert for any slight sounds that might tip him off. His hand did not stray from his side where the stunner rested easily on his hip.

The feeling of being watched increased as he walked. There were eyes out there studying his every movement, of that fact he grew more and more certain. But for what purpose? So far, the unseen observer had made no threatening moves – but the very fact that he was in hiding meant that his intentions would not stand up to open examination. That was not good.

As the pirate walked, his suspicions grew. The whole purpose of his coming up here had seemed funny from the start. ‘Check out the power feed at generating station number four,’ his boss had told him. ‘It’s acting up at odd moments, almost as if someone was playing with it.’

The request had seemed strange at the time. ‘I don’t know much about the generators,’ he’d answered. ‘Wouldn’t it be better to send someone from the work crews?’

‘I think it may be one of them doing it,’ the boss had responded. Then, leaning forward, he added quietly, ‘We may have an infiltrator on the base, someone trying to sabotage our work. I trust you; I’d prefer that you have a look and let me know what you find out. Go the topside route so no one sees you.’

There’d been no way to argue with that and so, reluctantly, he’d taken the assignment. It made sense in a way, though he had to smile despite himself at the irony of the situation. But now, as he walked carefully through the jungle toward the generating station, the conversation took on a much more sinister aspect. What if the boss suspected him of being the infiltrator? What if he had been sent up here to be executed as a traitor to the organization? Alone and isolated up here, he made a perfect target. Could this be a setup?

But what would be the point of that? If they suspected him of betraying them they could just as easily have killed him down in the base, without bothering to go through with this ambush. The boss held life and death over his subordinates – and had killed people in the past for less serious offenses. Why the charade this time?

None of it made much sense, and the man could not arrive at any answers. All he had was the unshakeable conviction that he was indeed being followed and watched.

On impulse, he stopped dead. As his ears strained to pick up some indication of his follower, a chill went up his spine. There it was, at the very limits of his hearing: the faint swish of another body moving through the jungle in time to his own rhythm, coming to a stop just a second too late to avoid detection. It was impossible to tell in which direction the sound had been; it was gone again almost the same instant he heard it. But he had heard it; there was no doubt at all in his mind now.

That question, at least, was settled – but it brought a new one to mind: what to do now. Should he try to go back to the elevator tube, back down to the base and the safety of his fellow pirates? If his fears about his boss were correct, though, he would only be running straight into the arms of the enemy. Should he continue on his intended path to generating station four and hope to find some sanctuary there? But the unseen watcher had been waiting for him to come up; perhaps there was a trap waiting there ahead of him, with the watcher following to make sure he didn’t deviate.

The options forward and back seemed pretty dismal, and simply standing where he was left him too exposed. The only recourse was to break from the path completely, head off sideways in an unexpected direction and hope to catch his follower by surprise.

Being right-handed, his first impulse was to break to the right. Instead, to avoid predictability, he ran to the left at about a seventy degree angle to his original path. He made no attempt to maintain an unsuspecting air; stopping in the middle of his journey would have already alerted his enemy of his suspicions. Instead, he threw caution to the winds and ran through the jungle, pushing aside the brush that whipped at his face and ripped at his clothes.

The noise that he made as he crashed through the forest was loud in his own ears, as were his deep gasps for breath; nevertheless, the sounds behind him were unmistakable now – the sounds of someone, or some group of people, running after him before he could escape completely.

The barrel of his stun-gun beat against the man’s leg with every stride he took, but he did not dare slow down yet to unholster it; he had a momentary advantage of speed and surprise, and he wanted to keep it. For all he knew, there could be five people behind him, all armed with blasters. He had to find himself a secure position before trying to pick off his pursuers.

Further off to his left he heard the sound of rushing water, and a plan began to form in his mind. A small river ran nearby, cascading over a cliff and down to this level in a beautiful waterfall. The man recalled an outcropping of rock over which the water tumbled; he could hide in the grotto behind the waterfall and pick off his approaching pursuers. While far from perfect, the plan offered more hope than merely running blindly through the jungle – and any hope was something to grasp at.

He altered course slightly, and soon he could see the cliffs rising into view over the treetops. With an extra burst of speed he dashed out across the small clearing between the trees and the cliffs, knowing full well he was dreadfully exposed for several seconds. He could feel the spray from the cascading water hit his face with sudden coolness – and then abruptly he was behind it, running around the side of the falls and into the small grotto in back.

He finally stopped, bending over and gasping desperately for breath. There was a stitch in his left side that felt like a knife stabbing through his ribs; he made an effort to will the muscles there to relax, and after a few moments the pain eased enough to let him move around some more. He drew his stunner from his belt and settled into a defensive posture, awaiting further developments.

In the next few quiet seconds he willed his mind back to the clear coldness it would need for the fight to follow. Actually, he was rather satisfied with the position in which he found himself; it was far more favorable than anything he might have dared hope for. The waterfall in front of him would at least partially obscure him from the view of any pursuers, while giving him a clear shot at anyone coming into the clearing. Even if his enemy stayed in the shelter of the trees at the edge of the jungle, he would be at the extreme limits of blaster range. The cliff behind him was solid; as a veteran of many fights, he knew well the advantage of a firm wall at his back. He crouched in the semidarkness of his hollow, getting progressively damper, and waited.

The stillness descended once more on the scene. Whoever was following him must have realized the situation and halted just out of sight, still within the jungle, waiting at the edge of the clearing for him to make his move. The game of patience began again.

This was eerie, the man thought. He knew someone was after him, but he had not had a single glimpse of his pursuer. It was a silent and deadly game of hide-and-seek – without rules and without free bases.

Tiring at last of the silent battle of wills, the pirate called out, ‘I know you’re there. Why don’t you show yourself? Or don’t you have the guts for a showdown?’

A moment went by while the other considered his words. Then a voice came out of the jungle – a voice that sounded vaguely familiar, yet the pirate couldn’t quite place it. ‘An interesting choice of words,’ the unseen watcher said. ‘In a way, you’re right. By your definition, I don’t have the guts. But I think it’s time for a showdown, after all.’ And with that, he stepped forward.

Behind the waterfall, the pirate’s jaw dropped. The man coming toward him was a perfect duplicate of himself, complete in every detail. The walk, the clothing, the mannerisms – everything was identical to himself. He knew now why the voice sounded familiar – it was his own voice, one he certainly had not expected to hear from someone else.

At first he was too amazed to do anything but stare at the figure approaching him. Belatedly he realized that the other him was armed with a blaster, and was walking within easy range. Whatever the purpose of this apparition, it could mean him no good at all; he mustn’t let it get closer. ‘That’s far enough,’ he said, taking careful aim with his stunner.

The other man kept coming forward. There was a smile on his face.

Perspiration was beading on the pirate’s forehead. He pulled the trigger of his stun-gun and heard the satisfying hum of its paralyzing beam.

The other man’s smile broadened. He kept on walking.

The pirate knew he could not have missed; he was too good a shot. Perhaps the setting had been faulty. He checked his weapon quickly and saw that it had been set on four. His lookalike should have collapsed on the ground and been unconscious for two hours at that setting; instead, he was still walking relentlessly toward the waterfall.

There was little time left for playing games; the pirate could not spend the effort wondering what had gone wrong. He set the dial of his stunner all the way up to ten – instantly lethal – and fired again.

And again, nothing happened.

The double advanced to within fifteen meters of the waterfall and stopped there. He seemed strangely reluctant to come much closer, but he had little need to; his weapon would be quite effective within that range.

The blaster spoke in a deceptively quiet hum, but there was nothing deceptive about the charge of dazzling energy that streaked from the barrel. There was a whiff of ozone where the beam passed through air, and when it hit the waterfall it caused a cloud of scalding steam to boil upward. Some, but not all, of the beam’s energy was dissipated in the water; the rest passed through and struck the pirate along the right side of the torso. The man fell to the ground and lay still.

The double watched the body lying motionless on the ground behind the waterfall for a few moments, then fired his blaster again. This time he directed its beam upward, at the projecting lip of the overhang down which the water cascaded. He kept the beam at a steady level until the rock, unable to withstand the continual energy bombardment, began to crumble away. A minor rockslide ensued, burying the original pirate beneath a pile of rubble. The body was totally hidden from view.

Observing his handiwork and deeming it good, the double silently tucked the blaster into its holster, turned, and walked confidently back to the pirate base.

‘On the whole,’ Lady A said to her admiral, ‘you’ve done a most creditable job.’

Admiral Shen Tzu smiled and touched the fingertips of both hands together in front of him to form an arch over his chest. ‘You’ll pardon me I’m sure, milady, if I choose not to fully savor that remark. I’ve learned that compliments beginning with “on the whole” usually have a substantial “but” attached.’

The two conspirators were alone in Admiral Shen’s office, buried deep within the complex of the pirate base, seated opposite one another across the admiral’s desk. Even a casual observer could have told that the two people were neither friends nor equals. Lady A had neither, nor did she wish any.

Lady A was not a large woman, of only medium height and build, but she nonetheless dominated any group she was in. She had a classically beautiful body behind which lay a soul of ice. She projected an air of calculated superiority, and coldly cultivated the impression that she was distinct from those who worked for her. She was dressed meticulously in a black cat suit with a tight-fitting hood and boots, and a tool belt around her waist. Tucked into the belt was a coiled whip, and none of her subordinates could be quite sure whether it was intended to be functional or merely ornamental.

As she looked across the desktop at her underling, she reviewed his qualifications in her mind as though he were merely another entry in a computer file. She was constantly revising and updating her opinions of her subordinates; she refused to tolerate inefficiency, and the moment anyone ceased to do his job the way she wanted it done, she got rid of him and found someone else who could.

Admiral Shen, though, was still high on her list of favored employees. He was a big, beefy man with multiple chins and a large belly. He had a long thin mustache that drooped well down past his chin, and braided forelocks on either side of his face. His hands were fat, his fingers like sausages, and he had a deep, booming laugh. He laughed often, this big man, but Lady A did not hold that against him. She judged a man by his performance, not his outward characteristics; she had read Shen’s soul, and found him more than satisfactory.

One of Shen’s weaknesses was a love of affectation. He was currently playing the role of a Mongol warlord, dressed in a long black coat trimmed with sable over baggy black velvet pants whose cuffs were tucked into embroidered red leather boots. He had a pointed leather cap, trimmed with white fur, on his head, and a scimitar – whose handle was really a disguised blaster – at his belt. An enormous gold medallion covered most of his chest like a shield.

The decor of his office matched his presumed persona. The walls and ceiling were draped with a red brocade fabric to resemble a Mongol tent. His desk was carved ebony with brass fittings. Oriental rugs covered the floor, and a profusion of silk pillows was scattered about the room. Shen and Lady A were seated on two of the office’s camel-saddle chairs, which were more striking than comfortable.

Shen’s extravagances might become tedious once Lady A’s regime was firmly established over the Empire – but until then, his military expertise made him indispensable to her cause.

Perhaps Shen realized that as well. He was more flippant with her than she usually allowed subordinates to become. She decided to let his remark remain at face value. Let him have his little jests for now, she thought.

The “but” in this case is tolerable – so long as you learn your lesson from it and see that the mistake isn’t repeated. One of your ships, the Lucinda, was captured last week when it tried an abortive raid on a Navy decoy ship.’

Shen shrugged his massive shoulders. ‘We’re in a war. We have to expect casualties from time to time. A ship or two is hardly a catastrophe – not like what happened to Ling.’ Shen shivered slightly. ‘That could have really been fatal if you’d actually implemented Operation Annihilate. We’d have been counting on those ships, and we’d have been slaughtered.’

The incident to which he alluded had occurred several months earlier. Operation Annihilate had been ready to go into action, awaiting only the word from Lady A – or the mysterious C – to unleash it. The conspiracy’s forces had gathered in the depths of interstellar space, waiting at several strategic points to descend upon Earth and capture the heart of the Empire in one bold stroke. The cue was to be the assassination of Emperor Stanley Ten and Crown Princess Edna during the Princess’s wedding at Bloodstar Hall. With the two best claimants to the Throne dead, the Imperial Navy would be demoralized – and the subsequent bickering over succession would have allowed a strong outside force – namely the ships of the conspiracy – to sweep in and assume command.

That, at least, had been the theory. In actuality, the assassinations that were to have triggered the plan never came about, thanks to the superhuman efforts of some agents of the Service of the Empire. Their last-second interference saved the Emperor’s and Princess’s lives, causing Lady A to postpone Operation Annihilate.

But, at that same time, her conspiracy suffered another blow when the Imperial Navy raided one of the pirates’ space bases run by Captain Ling, destroying or capturing all the ships waiting there to take part in the attack. Even Lady A, who claimed to know so much of the government’s inner workings, had been surprised by the raid, leaving her to wonder whether her own organization’s security had been breached; but when more time passed and none of the other bases were hit, she and C came more to the conclusion that this one raid had been a fluke. Either the Imperial Navy or the Service of the Empire must have learned of the base through outside sources and acted against it on an impromptu basis. C had said he’d be checking out the details further. But for now, Ling was dead and any mistakes he’d made to reveal his location to the Empire had died with him.

Lady A was never one to dwell on past failures, except to make them object lessons for the future. ‘The loss of the Lucinda doesn’t trouble me greatly,’ she said. ‘As you yourself pointed out, a few losses are inevitable. But aboard the Lucinda, the Navy found the body of Karla Jost – a woman who was exiled to Gastonia twelve years ago and who, as far as the Empire’s official files went, was still there. Up until that time, the enforcement arms of the Empire had not suspected our Gastonian operations; now they do. Karla Jost was supposed to remain here with you. What was she doing on the Lucinda?’

If the implied charges of malfeasance bothered Shen, he did not let his feelings show. ‘She was going to be one of my wing commanders,’ he explained coolly. ‘Yet she hadn’t been aboard a ship, except to come here from Gastonia, in a dozen years. I don’t know about you, mila. . .